TESTIMONY

by Kathryn S. Wylde, President and CEO
PARTNERSHIP FOR NEW YORK CITY

New York, New York
April 1, 2008

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Testimony Before the New York City Council Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee on the 125th Street Rezoning Plan

Good morning. Thank you Chair Avella and Chair Katz, and members of the committee for the opportunity to testify today — particularly Council members Dickens, Jackson and Mark-Viverito, whose districts will be affected by this rezoning.

The Partnership for New York City represents the city's business leadership and its largest private sector employers. Through its housing programs, the Partnership helped launch the renaissance of Harlem during the 1980s and 1990s. We sponsored development of thousands of units of affordable housing throughout Northern Manhattan and we helped to bring many local and minority-owned companies into the city’s affordable housing industry. 

We have known the communities of Harlem for many years and understand the frustration of those residents and local businesses that have not fully shared in the benefits of the neighborhood’s renaissance. We believe this rezoning plan has been designed to help address that inequity, thanks to the input of the Community Boards and Council Members Dickens, Jackson and Mark-Viverito.

For example, to a large extent, tour buses and other visitors still tend to drive through Harlem, rather than patronize local stores, galleries, cultural institutions and professional firms. The rezoning and coordinated redevelopment along this key corridor will make 125th Street a true destination. Visitors will get off the bus and out of their cars and taxis to patronize local merchants. Moreover, indigenous artists, professionals and entrepreneurs will finally have a cluster of activity that reinforces and strengthens their individual efforts to grow and prosper within Harlem. We have confidence in the entrepreneurial spirit and creative talents of the people of Harlem to maximize these opportunities.

The 125th Street Rezoning plan, if enacted, will launch an exciting new phase of Harlem's renaissance. It will strengthen this regional business district and bolster its historic role as an arts, entertainment and retail center. The plan will provide long-needed zoning updates through the creation of the 24-block 125th Street Special District.  It will create new opportunities for development, while preserving those blockfronts with a strong residential character. The plan will also impose height limits, which currently do not exist, throughout the Special District.

Moving forward with the 125th Street rezoning is particularly important at a time when the national economy is faltering. Harlem is a magnet for international interest in its music, art and culture. With this zoning in place, Harlem will attract international investment to fuel continued economic growth. This will translate into an ongoing source of jobs and business activity.

Under this innovative rezoning program, for the first time developers could take advantage of an Arts Bonus, which offers a floor area bonus in exchange for providing nonprofit visual or performing arts spaces, such as a gallery, museum or theater. This arts bonus is expected to create nearly 90,000 square feet of arts and performance space on 125th Street. In addition, in the proposed Core Subdistrict, developments over 60,000 s.f. would be required to allocate five percent of their space for arts and entertainment related uses such as galleries or restaurants. These actions are bound to attract new philanthropic support for many of the neighborhood's well-established and emerging arts and cultural institutions.

The zoning along key low-scale portions of 125th Street (namely, the brownstone blocks close to Fifth Avenue and within the Mount Morris Historic District and the two blocks between Morningside Avenue and Broadway) would be mapped with contextual zoning districts that match the built character of the neighborhood. The current zoning has no height limit.

The plan also provides the opportunity for development of 2,500 new units of housing, of which approximately 450 will be restricted to affordable rents. It establishes the first use of the Inclusionary Housing Program in Upper Manhattan, allowing increased density (within the height limitations) in return for the development and preservation of affordable units.

We urge the City Council to embrace this important zoning initiative and look forward to working with you to encourage community-oriented private investment that will insure that 125th Street is restored to world-class status as a vibrant center of culture and entertainment that reflects its rich history and depth of talent.

The Partnership for New York City (www.pfnyc.org) is a network of business leaders dedicated to enhancing the economy of the five boroughs of New York City and maintaining the city’s position as the center of world commerce, finance and innovation.